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NEW for Summer 2010
Tech Academy's fifth summer program is highlighted by more Advanced course offerings as well as a new TECH 2 introductory course. Among the new Advanced courses for the July 12th session is Digital Electronics, where students will analyze the basic components of a computer, design and build some of the logic and arithmetic hardware building blocks. In Biological Signal Analysis, students will build an amplifier to record neural signals in a crayfish and analyze the data.

TECH 2 teaches similar engineering principles as TECH 1 (formerly the Intro course), but does so within the context of electricity and aerodynamics—building an electricity generating windmill and measuring its output. California State University, East Bay, in Hayward is online with both morning and afternoon TECH 1 sessions.

Electricity from a little ceramic box
Fuel cells first grabbed public attention from NASA's use in space capsules. Soon they may create power for businesses and homes. Bloom Energy says it has developed a solid-oxide fuel-cell box which converts natural gas or other fuels into electricity. It does so producing 60% less carbon dioxide emissions than a coal-fired power plant, at a cost less than electricity produced on the grid. The company has sold boxes to California businesses Google, eBay, FedEx, WalMart and Staples.

Right now, reported cost savings come from subsidies. Without sudsidies electricity would cost $0.13/kWh to $0.14/kWh, compared with average U.S. retail costs of about $0.11/kWh

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory is also working on fuel cells, using stainless steel coated with a thin film of ceramic material. Bloom competitors include UTC, Kyocera and Siemens.

Bloom aims to shrink its box, so that for about $3000 a box in a basement could power an entire house. That would make power lines a convenience, and create greater total energy savings - - up to half of electricity from power plant is lost in transmission.

Tech Schools
President Obama launched the public-private "Educate to Innovate" campaign, aimed at improving science and math education and buffing up the image of techies with young people. "If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House," the president said. "Well, if you're a young person and you've produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too. Scientists and engineers ought to stand side by side with athletes and entertainers as role models, and here at the White House we're going to lead by example. We're going to show young people how cool science can be."